Kiba Ôkaminosuke: jigoku giri

Kiba (the Wolf) (Isao Natsuyagi) is back, this time caught up in a plot to steal the gold from a mine that belongs to the Shogun. As a sequel to Natsuyagi's first outing as the 'Samurai Wolf', the film has a similar 'ramen-western' aesthetic, copious blood-letting and casual killings, but the storyline is more complex and features a number of interesting characters and intertwined narratives. Once again, Natsuyagi is quite good in the standard 'anti-hero' role and, like his spaghetti-western counterparts, is made to suffer for our sins before rough justice prevails. In general, I found it more entertaining and less predictable than the inaugural 'Samurai Wolf' adventure.